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Painting Process: Cybergoth Robot

Here's another in my series of blog posts where I go over my basic process for doing on of my robot paintings. Like all of the other pieces in this series, this one was painted in Photoshop, 300dpi, at 12"x18".

I started with the basic concept of having Emily being reflected on either side of her in glass. My initial idea was just more experiments with reflections, but then I got the idea that the reflections could instead be aspects of her character that she's dealing with, so that changed up my design a bit. I went with her dark side on the left of frame and her light side on the right of frame, keeping them both as robot designs to go with the overall theme of this project while also exploring her mindset a bit further than I normally do.

Robot design laid out on Emily (including the addition of the cybergoth-style gas mask, indicating she is more cyborg than robot) and a large cityscape based on Winnipeg.

Flat colour layers laid down for painting. As always, the colours used here don't reflect the final colour scheme that I'll be painting with, but just serve to visually separate the various painting layers from each other.

Cityscape painted. I went with a very simple painting style for the city, as the three figures (and the glass effects on either side of the main figure) will be very busy, and I don't want the background to overwhelm that.

Morality reflections painted, as well as part of the frame of the exterior window. I deliberately faded the reflections out at the bottom of the image to give more of a sense that they don't physically exist, but instead are aspects of the central figure's personality.

Interior window frame painted as well as some reflection lighting on the windows painted in, further separating the reflections from the main character.

Halo lighting added to one of the morality reflections, even further separating the reflections from the central figure.

Primary painting on the central figure completed. I went with skin tones around the eyes to further reinforce the notion that she is a cyborg rather than a robot, justifying the gas mask and goggles.

Internal lighting and polishing effects painted in on the central figure.

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Here's another in my progress posts, where I go over the basic steps I use to do one of my robot (and other) illustrations. Like all the other pieces in these posts, this was painted in Photoshop, 300dpi, in RGB, at 12"x18".

Starting with a photo I took of Selina, I worked out the idea of her as a winged robot, standing up high on scaffolding or something similar, over a city street inspired by Tokyo. I was thinking lots and lots of neon signage in the background, which worked as the photo was heavily in shadow, so there would be a lot of contrast between the background and foreground.

I laid out the basic robot pattern I wanted on her. Again, I knew that she would mostly be in shadow, so I included machinery that would give her a few internal light sources, especially from the lifting motors inside her wings, but not so many as to detract from the neon patterns behind her.

The next step was developing the buildings and signage in the background, as well as the very busy…

I was just looking at my blog, and realized that I haven't posted anything for several months. I need to rectify that right now.
Here's another in my series of procedural posts, detailing the overall process for doing one of my robot paintings. As with all the paintings in this series, these are painted in Photoshop, at 12"x18", 300dpi, in RGB.
I started with a basic illustration of the various characters, all based on my friend Marie. We had set up a shoot with this composition in mind.
The next step is designing the overall cityscape behind the characters, and creating the interior space of the nightclub they are in. The curving lines of the interior space serve to keep drawing the eye toward the characters, keeping them the main focus of the piece.
The overall robot design is laid out for all the characters. I am keeping the designs fairly consistent, making it obvious that they are all copies of the same robot model.

Well, on top of my regular commission work, the first month of 2017 managed to be very productive for me. I managed to get a series of new paintings done, all of which I really like, as well as starting to develop a new project that should end up being the centerpiece of my new book of painting. But more on that in the coming months.

All these, and plenty others, can be seen on my RedBubble Gallery, where they can be purchased as prints, clocks, t-shirts, and other products!